My husband and I decided to use our $200 gift certificate that he won from his office Holiday party for our Valentine’s Day dinner celebration and go to Morton’s Steakhouse. Neither of us have ever been to Morton’s and the $200 was burning a hole in my husband’s pocket. I realized beforehand that Morton’s menu is not run by the Executive Chef per se and is a corporate menu that it won’t be like going to an independent restaurant. There are many locations, including several in Northern Virginia, but we decided to go to the Tysons Corner location (8075 Leesburg Pike).We had a 7 o’clock reservation and were glad that there was a valet because we were running a few minutes late. Once we arrived and looked to check in with the host/hostess we wished that we had not rushed. They were extremely backed up. Perhaps their computer system was down because there was “Oscar” who was frantically trying to organize his little slips of paper with everyone’s reservation information on them. There were at least half a dozen other couples waiting for their 7 p.m. tables (now at 7:30 p.m.). Not to mention that many seven-thirty reservations were attempting to check in as well. It was quite chaotic. Once we were seated our server gave us his little schpeel about the menu. I startled when he picked up the lobster off the tray and he moved! I joked that he stayed still on the tray because he knew that he was part of the presentation. Well … I guess that you just had to be there.The two-tops on the dining room floor were very close together. Diners were moving the table in and out to let the other in their party get by. They were pretty close.I ordered a special champagne cocktail to celebrate. It was pretty Chit-ching! $14 I think is a lot for one drink … they did leave the rest of the small bottle of moet champagne that was left in the bottle so I could top it off. Most restaurants offer a bread basket, it’s pretty common but at Morton’s there is no question that this is the largest loaf of bread that I have ever seen. This enormous round onion topped loaf is deliciously warm on the inside and crusty all over. It’s quite difficult to cut … I made a mess! (see left; borrowed photo) I was interested in their Jumbo Lump Crab Cake appetizer, but I decided to go with the Morton’s classic combo for dinner which is sort of like a surf & turf and includes a Western Australian lobster tail and an 8 ounce filet mignon. It comes with a cesar side salad, but Ben and I decided to “swap” salads and he would order the wedge and I would give him my cesar. It would have worked out except that the server brought out the cesar salad and Ben’s oysters on the half shell at the same time. I nibbled on the salad but wanted to wait for the wedge. Apparently, this center cut iceberg wedge salad is their most popular salads. It comes with egg, bacon bits, diced tomatoes, and blue cheese dressing. (see photo on the right; courtesy of Morton’s). Since I have dieting I have been really watching my fat intake. This salad is pure fat. I decided to order it despite that and justify by saying that it’s a special ocassion. I was very disappointed. The center cut didn’t appeal to me at all. The wedge had too much dressing and tasted mostly like egg. I simply could not eat it. I ordered my filet medium plus which is just a tad less rare than medium and less done than medium well. The filet was over cooked on the outside, it was too charred for my taste and I think that even for medium plus, it was closer to medium rare. Ben agreed that it was too pink for my taste. I didn’t send it back because I was filling up anyways and decided that I could reheat it at home without drying it out. The filet was served with jumbo asperagus with Bernaise sauce on the side. The lobster tail was delicious … perfectly cooked and quite tasty. I used just a splash of lemon juice and a dash of melted butter. I wish I had more lobster than filet. I would have been more satisfied with my meal. Ben ordered the NY Strip. I had a piece of his steak. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference from the piece he cut off his steak and my filet. I had their house apple pie for desert which was delicious and I liked that it was served a la mode. In terms of value, there is no question that our meal was not worth the $290 that we spent. We used the $200 gift certificate so we didn’t use but about $100 of our own money. My husband remarked that if we had to spend our own money that he’d be angry. I pity all the other couples who were there that did. I noticed that there were children that were there before we sat but I wouldn’t really call this place, “kid-friendly”. I give Morton’s a “one pacifer”.